No More Homeless Women

Despite more than three decades of media and public policy attention, homelessness remains a seemingly intractable problem in the United States (US) particularly among women. It has been previously stated to practitioners (1 in 4 Convening at Harvard University, October 23-24, 2014; 1 in 4 Convening at University of Southern California, January 21-22, 2016) that 1 in 4 homeless persons who are sheltered and unsheltered in the US is an unaccompanied woman. Nonetheless, although unaccompanied women make up approximately 25% of homeless persons in the United States, they have yet to be considered a focus of attention as a specific subpopulation.

Less attention, however, has focused on solutions to prevent and end homelessness among women. Although progress has been made in the field of homelessness during the past couple of decades by way of evidence-based and best practices, the needs of unaccompanied women experiencing homelessness remain relatively unexplored and largely unmet. What steps researchers, policy-makers, community groups, and service providers should take next is the focus of this initiative, which will require combined planning and resources to prevent and end homelessness among women and the disturbing issues and problems that contribute to their homelessness.